Humans have
intelligence and can reason, and animals have instinct. Religions teach that
although animals have a lower status, they should still be cared for and
respected.

Welfare Organisations:

There are hundreds of organizations protecting animal
rights. They believe that animals should be free from cruelty and exploitation,
and many oppose factory farming, experimentation and using animals for
entertainment.

Charities like the WWF, Greenpeace and the RSPCA raise
awareness of animal rights and monitor the treatment of animals.

Zoos,
safaris parks and aquariums:

Positive: Lets
you see animals up close, educational, gives people more respect for animals, prevents extinction, helps research

Negatives: Animals
can be in bad conditions and suffer stress, the environment is different from
their natural one and it can be difficult to adjust

Both religions: accept them if the animals are in good conditions that try
to match life in the wild

Pets:

Positive: they give companionship, help the owner socialise, and guide dogs can be very helpful for owners with sight problems

Negative: they could be unhappy in a home environment

Both: They
are not forbidden to have pets, but humane treatment is expected

Transport and work:

Positive: sniffer dogs can find drugs, military animals can locate mines, dogs carried messages across the trenches in WW1

Negative: they could be mistreated and killed when they are no longer able to work

Both: using animals is fine as long as they are cared for. They
can be therapeutic, and this use would be supported by religious people

Negative: animals
are transported in cramped conditions and many die on the journey, the process
can be painful and stressful

Positive: the method of halal is the most humane

Hindu: often vegetarian, killing an animal means killing a body that holds an ancestor's soul. They follow ahimsa, which is non-violence

Christian: animals
were created to provide humans with food. After the flood, God told Noah that
people can eat animals

Vegetarianism/ veganism:

Reasons: don’t wish to harm the animals, they object to the methods, they think vegetables are safer and healthier to
eat, they don’t like the taste. If less people ate meat, there would be enough
food to stop hunger in developing countries

Sport:

Hunting:

Positive: removes pests, entertainment

Negative: cruel

Bullfighting:

Positive: traditional

Negative: dangerous and degrading

Christian: animals
are under the control of humans, but humans have a duty as stewards to protect
them

Hindu: it is cruel and unnecessary, it is a Hindu’s
duty to protect animals and practice non-violence

Trade:

Fur:

Positive: helps the economy, is a natural resource, no endangered
species are used

Negative: animals are kept in small cages, methods of slaughter like
electrocution can leave animals conscious as they are being skinned

Ivory:

Positive: makes
use of animals killed to deal with overpopulation

Negative: encourages
poachers, ivory profits fund military operations and war

Experiments:

GM:

Negative: long-term
effects are unknown

Positive: help
find cures

Cloning:

Positive: cloned animals could produce things that treat illnesses

Negative: the main motive could be money, so health and
safety could be ignored

Christian: animals are valuable to God, but they accept limited testing
to find cures for diseases

Hindu: deities appear as animals. They shouldn’t be harmed, as they
are in the wheel of Samsara and are helpful to humans